Well said. I wasnt talking in the sense that '"I" i had the right to judge a person as a Muslim - i was talking in the sense that they need to judge themselves. I am not one to point fingers, however how you follow religion is of course up to the individual i.e what is right for one person may not be right for another person. I personally would feel like I have committed a sin by going into outback and eating a chicken taco because i know that it is haraam. It is said that a Muslim should refrain from eating haraam foods and ONLY if halal foods are not available for whatever reason only then can you eat kosher and if kosher is not available THEN you can resort to eating haraam, if there is nothing you can do to prevent your health from deteriorating by not eating haraam food readily availble. Its up to the persons conscience. Personally I have been to the outback many times and generally when i eat out, i eat halaal and if no halaal is available then i go veggie. Simple as that. It is not ness. to eat meat. If i live in an area where there are no Muslims, which i did whilst growing up in Santa Monica, then i eat kosher, which is basically halal and if that is not available then I eat veggie. Living in the USA is not a good enough excuse to not eat halaal. Eating meat is not compulsory. I see many Muslims eating a double cheeseburger in McDonalds, when a Fish Fillet which is halal is available to them. When you question them, they say "Oh halal isnt here, what do we eat?" They use this as an excuse to eat haraam. Its all about what you think is right or wrong. USA is not a small island in the middle of nowhere that is full of haraam foods only, with no access to halal foods. I would travel and have travelled hours to reach the nearest halal butchers store. Would Allah not be happy with that? The term halaal doesnt only extend to meat like chicken and lamb, but also to veggies and fish. Yes, you are right - its not my problem or yours, as to whether a "Muslim" drinks all night on a Friday night or not, however they should consider themselves whether this is a sinful act - which every Muslim knows it is - and they should question themselves whether this is an Islamic act, which it isnt and THEN they should consider themselves as to whether they themselves are Muslims. This is what i meant in my post. I had a non-muslim college tutor who once commented that he went out for lunch with a Muslim friend who had a sandwich. His Muslim friend said "Oh, whats this meat in this sandwich? Its taste so good" My tutor told him it was pork. The Muslim replied "Oh I shouldnt be eating this, but ill finish this off and then ill promise not to eat it again". They laughed. Now its not so much his actions that were Islamically wrong, but how morally offensive and vain this Muslim's remark was. Also they wernt laughing at what he said, they were ridiculing Islam, but using what he said as a cover for their laughter. As a Muslim, I was offended by those actions of a Muslim that I have never met and ashamed. How dare he ridicule my religion that he calls his own.... now you tell me, what part of that action was of a Muslim? I have no right to call him a non Muslim if he calls himself that, but whats the whole use in taking Islam so lightly? Why call yourself a Muslim in the first place? Because your mother told you are? These are question people need to ask themselves, not for me or others to ask.
I truely hate the days when a non Muslim asks, "But my other Muslim friends drink and smokes pot, why dont you?" These people bring shame on me.
Bunny, the misunderstanding here is that you kind of made it sound like a Muslim cannot commit a sin and still call themselves a Muslim...which of course is not true. Everyone sins at one time or another and if they have a meal in a restaurant that is not declared "Halaal", maybe its a sin which I doubt but heck I can think of many worse things yeah? If you live in USA, you will find eating (esp in restaurants) a very difficult undertaking if you stick to strictly Halaal places and stores - they are very hard (sometimes impossible) to find unless you live in a desi enclave. However, it IS completely allowed (as far as I know) to eat permissable meats (chicken, beef) in the way that Janab stated which would include eating in restaurants such as outback.
Another point made by Janaab was I think very important....that being, sure there are things that are either "forbidden" or "sinful" as outlined in the Koran. But no one, no mortal person, has the right to tell another "you ate pork so you are NOT a Muslim" or "You drank alcohol so you are no Muslim"....thats even worse I think than the action of the eater or drinker! Both are sins without a doubt - which Janab pointed out also.
A worse sin IMHO is taking on the role of God/Allah and judging fellow humans. What makes a Muslim? The Five Pillars. Those do not talk about eating pork or drinking alchohol or eating non-zahiba meats. They DO define what a Muslim IS. The Koran describes what they should do to be good Muslims.
Anyway, I think the short answer here is that even a bacon-eater or a saturday-nite-get-drunk-party person CAN be a Muslim. Are they a GOOD muslim? NOT your problem or mine - thats a problem/question for God/Allah, yeah?
